So spring and summer is approaching fast and I'm itching to get my new old wing out and riding like it should. It currently runs and I've had it out a few times but lately it's not idling consistantly and it's got a "cough" at around 2500 rpms. I feel like it'd definitely benefit from a good carb cleaning but I've been putting it off. I'm semi technically inclined but I'm an electrician by trade and the intricate innards of the carbs frighten me. I don't have the tools to sync my carbs so what all can I do, if anything, before I get to the point of needing to re-sync my carbs to help my new old toy out?

Try running a 1/2 can of seafoam thru full tank of gas. Do this 3 or 4 times. I just bought a 82 1100 that has set for 5 years. When i started it gas ran out of tubes between carbs. I sent them to Pistol Pete's to be rebuilt. Them did great job on a set I sent them 4 years ago.

Yeah I've ran a can of seafoam through it over the course of a tank of gas. How much was it to have them rebuilt? I've called a few places around here and it's ranged between 600$ (To rebuild) to 300$ (To clean) I got this bike for 450$ and put another 600$ in repairing and replacing a few things, so I'm not trying to pour too much money into it. I took it around the block again earlier and it's got about half the power it had just a few days ago now. I checked the plugs too and they're a little dirty but nothing unexpected considering the seafoam I've ran through it.

Not to say I wouldn't put any money in them though. I'm in for about a grand now so I still think I got a good deal at least for another 500$ or so. Also I really feel like once those carbs are running right it'll be in great shape. I just don't want to start messing with them and end up with something more complicated than I can fix.

Yeah if I Can knock out this problem with seafoam that'd be perfect. So it may be a silly question but when you say run a couple of more tanks with seafoam do I just let it idle until it runs out of gas or what? I can't really drive it too far from home with it running poorly, does it hurt it to just let it idle for long periods of time?

So I got to poking around on my bike again this morning and found two loose plug wires so that explained my poor idle and loss of power. I still have that "cough" at around 2500 rpms, so I'm going to continue running seafoam through it and hope for the best.

Here is what I did, some people don't like the method I use but I have done it twice with no problems and great results. I removed the carb rack as a unit, removed the tops and bowls from each carb keeping track of which on it was from. Cleaned all the parts I removed with carb cleaner. Then I got out my wife's big spaghetti pot filling it about 2/3 full of water and dumped a bottle of lemon juice in it. Got the water boiling and put one end of the carb rack in it for 10 minutes, then flipped it. Pulled it out of the water and took it to my work bench where I started blowing out all the passages with air and carb cleaner. I used a wire from a wire brush to clean out the jets. After putting everything back together, the bike ran like brand new. Again, may not be ideal in everyone's eyes but it worked for me.

Yeah I had read about doing that somewhere before. I may try that before I spend the money to send them off. So you just take the tops and bowls off and boil it huh. So would I need to re-sync them after doing this. I'm not real familiar with how these carbs work so I don't know what all I can take off of it before I have to re-sync the floats

DCoxson1969 wrote:If you don't touch any of the linkage connecting the carbs together, and if they were adjusted right to begin with, you shouldn't have to sync them.

Unless...there were jets partway clogged, and jets in one carb are clogged a little more than another, in which case they could be balanced to be smooth with the unequally clogged jets. When they are cleared, you'll have to re-sync to balance the carbs to the now correctly open jets.